>> in this case, forensic science was at the very heart of this case being solved and being successfully prosecuted. without it, who knows? we might have a cold case on the shelf, plain and simple. but with the forensics, but with the forensics, everything came together. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com veto. arizona's governor blocks a controversial religious rights bill that many called antigay. what she had to say overnight. severe, terrible weather across the country, violent storms tearing down trees in the west, temperatures plunge in the east. in the midwest, rivers have become blocks of ice. indra petersons tracking the worst from coast to coast for us. and breaking news this morning. panic on board a delta air lines flight when smoke fills the cabin. people unable to breathe, passengers told to evacuate and leave everything behind. >> wow.

terrifying. >> good morning, everyone. good to see you today. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it is thursday, february 27th, 5:00 a.m. in the east. let's begin this morning in arizona, where opponents of a so-called religious freedom bill overjoyed this morning. governor jan brewer has vetoed the measure that would have allowed businesses to deny service to gays and others, to deny service to their own customers based on religious grounds. brewer says the bill could have produced "unintended negative consequences." let's get more from cnn's miguel marquez. >> reporter: john, christine, calls for veto and protests turned into celebration here at the arizona capitol. they even produced signs very quickly for, thank you, governor brewer, and they were chanting "thank you, jan," after vetoing the bill that the governor said strongly, in a strong statement to say this bill was too broadly written and there was no reason for it to be law in arizona, and

therefore, she was not going to sign it. she heard from legislators and from businesspeople all day long about this bill. one thing in particular that she heard from legislators is that she felt it had been rushed through both the house and the senate here. for now, this bill is dead. the people here are celebrating. and people who support sb-1062, though, say that they will come back and try again. john, christine? >> they faced a lot of pressure. thanks to miguel marquez. the nfl said they would move the super bowl, at least look into it, had they not vetoed that law in arizona. all right, we have some breaking news for you. a scare for passengers on board a delta connection flight from los angeles to oakland. these passengers were quickly evacuated after landing overnight when the smell of smoke filled the cabin. you can hear that right there. "we cannot breathe back here. go." here's what one of the passengers had to say about it. >> by the time we got to the gate, the cabin started filling up. smelled like burnt rubber.

and the pilots just immediately put the plane to a stop, just really came to a jolting stop, and the flight attendants were telling everybody to get off, get off the plane, get off the plane. leave your stuff behind, get off the plane. >> dramatic situation. all the passengers and crew were able to depart the plane without injuries. you can see they're leaving right there. right now authorities are trying to determine the source of that smell. now to the brutal news that so many of you are waking up to right now, the big, bad, awful cold. look at that. temperatures plunging to record lows. look at that 30 below up there! this is the midwest and the northeast. also, there's also another potential major winter storm brewing for the weekend. then there's this, there's a huge weather story brewing out west. the drought-plagued region out there finally getting what they so desperately need, rain. they're getting lots of rain. in fact, maybe too much rain. indra petersons is here with the forecast. a lot going on, indra.

>> good morning. >> good morning. yeah, unfortunately, this cold will not go anywhere. let's talk about what it feels like again this morning, today even rougher than it was yesterday. we're talking about those temperatures. currently pittsburgh feels like 16 -- or is 16, chicago 10. the feels like you're going to notice. it feels a lot worse than this. we're talking about duluth almost feeling like 40 below this morning. those are dangerous temperatures. we're actually seeing those windchill advisories spread a little bit farther to the east as once again that colder air is progressing even farther to the east. and you're going to see this when you look at departures for the afternoon highs, so how much below normal we are for this time of year. chicago 31 below normal for this time of year, only 10 degrees by the afternoon, new york city looking for 32. going into tomorrow, look at that difference. you're seeing the cold air spread even farther, so new york city goes down to the 20s, a good 20 below where they should be. notice the south also seeing temperatures below normal. as you go towards the actual weekend and the south recovers, we still talk about this very cold air as another reinforcing segment of cold air makes its way through. so, the upper midwest again, talking 20, 30 below average,

definitely not what you want to hear going into the weekend. there are several stories out there. of course, you have this frigid cold air in the east, but out west we've been talking about how dry it's been, but this weekend they'll be talking about chances of rain. currently raining right now, but what is expected friday into saturday, we are talking about the heaviest rain they have seen in three years, guys. even the threat for severe weather and tornadoes. sounds like a good thing. of course, now, the rain does, but flooding potential will be high. >> indra, can the ground handle it when they've had so much drought out there? can the ground handle torrential downpours? >> exactly the point, not at all, especially the burn areas on top of it, a double whammy. it's a huge concern. you want rain, but not all at once like this. >> thank you, indra. this morning we're learning the obama administration wants to hang on to phone records that the national security agency collected on millions of americans. those records are supposed to be destroyed after five years, but the justice department says they need to be preserved. why? because of civil lawsuits over the surveillance program. the information could end up as evidence at a trial.

the court is expected to approve this request, but it might want the nsa to agree not to access the material for intelligence-gathering. this morning, new word about the possible consequences between the deep freeze and u.s./afghan relations. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff telling the "associated press" what could happen if afghanistan doesn't sign a security pact with the u.s. army general martin dempsey says it's hurting the morale of afghan soldiers, and he's afraid some could end up siding with the taliban. president hamid karzai has refused to sign the agreement. president obama wants the pentagon to speed up plans to pull all the u.s. troops, but he's hoping karzai's replacement will sign the pact. the election is this spring. a very tense situation between these two countries. >> to say the least. all right, we have nuclear news this morning. secretary of state john kerry says military action should be a last resort in the effort to get iran to abandon its nuclear activities. the secretary says the u.s. has an obligation to pursue negotiations with tehran first.

iran struck a preliminary agreement with six world powers, including the united states, to halt its most sensitive nuclear operations, getting relief from some economic sanctions in return. president obama has said that all options are on the table regarding iran's nuclear program. in syria this morning, hezbollah fighters are said to be taking the lead against rebels in syria's 3-year-old civil war. hezbollah in tandem with regime forces prevented a rebel takeover of damascus. nearly 200 rebel soldiers have been killed in this ongoing battle in a region just east of the capital. a bill aimed at taking the prosecution of sex assaults and other crimes out of the hands of military commanders is expected to come up for a senate vote in the next few weeks. on wednesday, lawmakers heard from victims who said they felt abandoned by their superiors and then attempted suicide. the army, meanwhile, says it has removed nearly 600 soldiers from positions of trust as rape counselors, recruiters and drill sergeants because of infractions

ranging from sex assault to child abuse to drunk driving. all right, it's a banner day for tea party patriots. they'll mark the fifth anniversary of the political movement with an event in the nation's capitol. speakers include some prominent conservatives, such as senators ted cruz, rand paul and congresswoman michele bachmann. tea party officials say they'll reflect on how the movement was formed, its significant successes and the political road ahead. >> just five years old. think about it, think of the impact they've had in that time. >> and the timing, right when the stock market hit that terrible low, right when the stimulus was passed. >> housing crisis. >> all the things happening right then five years ago that were sort of the kruse kbacruci think, for the tea party movement. eight minutes after the hour and we have huge news this morning about what you eat. the white house set to unveil new food nutrition labels today. this is a very big deal. first lady michelle obama will make the announcement as part of a week-long fourth anniversary celebration of her let's move campaign to combat obesity. it's not known exactly what the changes will be, but it is expected that calories will be more prominently displayed, and

this is the really big deal -- >> yeah. >> serving sizes will be more accurate to what consumers are actually eating. so, you know that bottle of soda will be one serving instead of 2 1/2. things like that. >> right. >> this is the first update to food nutrition labels in more than two decades. >> and there have been some who have been hoping that these nutrition labels will tell you how many teaspoons of sugar, for example, are in a product, not how many grams, since you have no idea what that means, really, you know? >> i didn't know there would be that. there may be a line for added sugar, which is a big deal. janet yellen back in the hot seat and her testimony on capitol hill could jolt the stock market today. she speaks to a senate committee later this morning. and the last time she was on the hill it was the first time on the hill as a fed chief, two weeks ago. this is how investors responded. the dow popped nearly 200 points, briefly topped 16,000 the last time she appeared. yellen plans to keep the fed's market-friendly policies in place, so that's low interest rates and a low withdrawal of stimulus from the economy. but it's been two weeks, you know, since she last appeared, and the economic data hasn't

been all that great. so, wall street wants to know if her outlook has changed. for now, stock futures slightly lower. overseas markets right now, berman, they're mixed. all right, we have breaking news this morning in ukraine, something we're watching very, very closely. gunmen taking over a parliament building, raising a russian flag. could this lead to a standoff with russia? the people there being warned to stay off the streets. we're live with the very latest. and justin bieber stumbling his way through a sobriety test. oh, yeah, you can watch it on video. we've got it for you next. predibut, manufacturings a prettin the united states do. means advanced technology. we learned that technology allows us to be craft oriented. no one's losing their job. there's no beer robot that has suddenly chased them out. the technology is actually creating new jobs. siemens designed and built the right tools and resources

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feel the difference, or your money back. ♪ feel the difference, or your money back. a steel cage: death match of midsize sedans. the volkswagen passat against all comers. turbocharged engines against...engines. best in class rear legroom against other-class legroom. but then we realized. consumers already did that. twice. huh. maybe that's why nobody else showed up. how does one get out of a death cage? vo: hurry in and lease the 2014 passat for $189 a month. visit vwdealer.com today. we're following breaking news this morning from ukraine, gunmen storming the parliament in the ukraine southern premier region. some 50 armed gunmen are said to be occupying two buildings and they have raised a russian flag. this comes as ukraine's lawmakers meet to vote in a new government following the removal of the president, viktor

yanukovych. cnn's phil black is live in kiev for us. phil, what are you hearing? the tensions here between people in this country who are still very torn about its future. what's happening? >> reporter: yeah, christine, and this is the strongest example of that so far. clearly, it's very fluid. we could show you live pictures from just outside the ukrainian parliament building, where earlier this morning, around 50, we believe, armed men stormed that building, taking control. people who saw them arrive say they were carrying automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades. clearly, they don't look like they want to give it back, give it up easily, and local political leaders are telling us that they're trying to negotiate with these men and they're refusing to do so. they are not recognizing the authority of those local leaders. so, at the moment, authorities have set up a perimeter around the building, saying they will not use force to try and retake it at this time. they are trying to keep the situation calm, but it is a direct challenge to the authority of the new government

here in ukraine. and in addition to all of this, there remains the question, what will russia do? the ukrainian acting president has warned russian forces, who have a naval base, a leased naval base in this southern region of ukraine, not to leave the base. and if they do, if they move beyond the perimeter of their grounds, then that will be interpreted as an act of aggression. so, clearly, the situation is very tense today here in kiev, a new government will be voted on by parliament and interim government. it now has a new crisis to deal with on top of the political and economic problems that this country has, christine. >> economic problems. the world is watching and talking about how the imf, the eu, the u.s. and, potentially russia, can try to help fill that $35 billion gap the country needs to fill. phil black, thank you. >> think about what phil's saying, there's a russian military base, a huge naval base in the area where the ukraine now is trying to maintain control with russian troops stationed right there. a very, very tense situation.

other news here in the united states. a defiant chris christie says he will not let the hysteria over the new jersey bridgegate scandal distract him from what he calls his real job or his second-term agenda. the governor has denied knowing anything about the politically motivated lane closings at the george washington bridge. in a radio interview wednesday, christie was asked about the impact of the state legislature's investigation. >> of course it distracts, but it doesn't prevent us from doing our job. i mean, sure, because if you spent any amount of time on it during any day, that's time that you otherwise would be spending on something else. so, of course, to some extent, but it's an important thing to have to look into and get to the bottom of, and as i've said before, we'll spend the time that we need to spend on it, on appropriate investigations, and then when we have all the information we need, we'll put it out to the public. >> governor christie acknowledged that his approval numbers have dropped considerably, but he says they're still better than most governors across the country. all right, we're getting a feel for what a hillary clinton

presidential campaign might look like and sound like. the former first lady delivering a big speech last night at the university of miami. her message -- equality and inclusion. she says the full participation of anyone, including women, poor, young people and disadvantaged, it's the only way to get america turned around. and the crowd, obviously, very warm welcome she got at the university of miami. >> wow! look at that right there. officials in texas say they will appeal a federal judge's ruling striking down the state's ban on same-sex marriage. the judge says the texas law has no purpose but to demean gays and lesbians. texas is the largest state to have its marriage ban overturned, like others in utah, oklahoma and virginia, the judge stayed his ruling pending appeals. governor rick perry has vowed to continue the fight for texans to self-determine their state marriage laws. new security plans at the boston marathon after last year's terror attack that killed three and wounded hundreds more. runners are no longer allowed to wear costumes that cover their

faces. backpacks for carrying water forbidden. and bags banned on buses carrying the runners. in addition, more exits will be made near the finish line. the new rules were announced wednesday. the race is april 21st. i can't believe it's been a year. a federal appeals court ordered the anti-muslim video pulled from youtube in response to an lawsuit by an actress in the film. you will remember this film, the innocence of muslims that ignited riots across the middle east and left more than 50 people dead. cindy garcia says her voice was dubbed over by an insult against the prophet muhammad. she started getting death threats and ruled a copyright suit. a judge ruled garcia has a right to protect herself from deception and physical harm. law enforcement scheduled to testify friday in connection with the 2012 sandy hook elementary school massacre. 20 first graders and 6 school staffers shot to death by a lone gunman. a 16-member advisory panel has been charged by the governor with making specific

recommendations on school safety, mental health and gun violence prevention. all right, it is 18 minutes after the hour right now, and we have some new video to show you this morning. >> oh, my. >> it's of justin bieber, all right? take a look at this. police in georgia found marijuana and drug paraphernalia while searching justin bieber's limousine after they arrested a bodyguard for allegedly stealing a photographer's camera. now, all this happening as video of police testing mr. bieber's sobriety was released. this test came after his dui arrest in miami last month. not moving very quickly, justin bieber there. >> it's the shoes. those big, red shoes make it hard to walk -- >> it is hard to walk in clown shoes. obviously, a bit of trouble walking the walk. and the police say he failed a series of tests, including horizontal gaze, walk and turn and finger to the nose. in his defense, those are all very challenging. >> they're almost like those dutch wooden shoes, right? what are they?

i don't know. we'll get to the bottom of it. incredibly intense moments on the basketball court, two games both giving us heart-stopping, last-second shots! joe carter breaks down what you missed while you were sleeping. >> i can't wait to see that. captain obvious: i'm in a hotel. and a hotel is the perfect place to talk to you about hotels. all-you-can-eat is a hotel policy that allows you to eat all that you can. the hotel gym is short for gymnasium. the hotel pool is usually filled with water. and the best dot com for booking hotels, is hotels.com. it's on the internet, but you probably knew that. or maybe not, i don't really know you. bellman: welcome back, captain obvious. captain obvious: yes i am. all those words are spelled correctly.

everyone. not one, but two college basketball games decided in overtime with last-second shots. oh, my gosh, i can't wait

because i had this league, but i had to see this. joe carter, show us in the "bleacher report." >> thank you, for selling it for me. the tournament starts in about 2 1/2 weeks for those wondering when it's time to start buzzing about college basketball, but this kind of quenches our thirst, if you will. the first great finish came in the michigan/purdue game. in overtime, michigan star player glenn robinson iii gets the buzzer-beater to fall. michigan wins 77-76. now, on the same floor 20 years ago, his father was the man at purdue. there's certainly some poetic element to this for what his son did on this famous father's old court. the win, by the way, keeps michigan in first place in the big ten. now, the second great finish came between two instate rivals, unc/nc state. by the way, these two schools hate each other. in overtime, the tar heels' marcus paige drops a last-second layup. unc trailed for most of this game but came back to win in thrilling fashion, 85-84.

the tar heels started the season really slow, but they're now one of the hottest team in the country. they've won ten games in a row. according to a cbs sports report, jonathan martin's agent met with the dolphins at the nfl combine. dolphin officials expressed interest in keeping martin, but martin's agent says his client is not comfortable returning to miami. martin's former teammate at stanford and now colts quarterback andrew luck, he was asked in an interview if he'd like martin on his indianapolis team. luck said he'd be in favor of it 100% and that martin's a great man. hey, trending this morning on bleacherreport.com, you know, we know that nfl teams ask a lot of questions to draft prospects during the interview process at the nfl combine, but here's a new one. what team do you choose when you play madden, the football video game? now, these questions can sometimes border the, dare i say, creepy zone. central florida quarterback blake bortles said that several teams asked him about his now

internet-famous girlfriend. they wanted to know if she would be around if team officials visited him in florida and if she'd, "be there for dinner and stuff like that." we know a few weeks ago, probably a month or so ago, bortles' coach at central florida said that his girlfriend was worth 6 million googles, and that's about how many googles you'll find, or at least views you'll find when you google bortles' girlfriend. you don't even have to put in her name. you just have to put in "bortles girlfriend." that's how popular she's become on the internet. >> that's a pretty creepy question. >> pretty creepy. >> what team are you when you play madden? >> denver broncos. >> what about you? >> all day. >> if it's not an atari 600, i don't know how to play. >> if it's not pong, john's out. >> i'm out. thanks, joe. we have breaking news this morning. a delta air lines flight fills with smoke, passengers evacuated. we're going to have that story and all the top headlines right after the break. discover card. i missed a payment. aw, shoot. shoot! this is bad. no! we're good! this is your first time missing a payment.

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bill vetoed. arizona's governor killed a controversial religious rights bill many said was simply antigay. why she says she had to do it. breaking news overnight. panic inside a delta air lines flight. you can hear screaming on this video, smoke filling the cabin. what passengers say happened, next. trees ripped from the ground, rivers becoming sheets of ice. millions waking up this morning to bitter cold temperatures. indra petersons breaking it down from coast to coast. >> a lot of big weather news this morning. >> i know, and there's something

for everyone in the weather report, guys. welcome back to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> and i'm john berman. 30 minutes after the hour now. overnight it was decided. arizona's controversial religious freedom bill will not become a law. opponents argued the measure would have given business owners license to discriminate against gays and, pretty much anyone. governor jan brewer ultimately agreed. >> senate bill 1062 does not address a specific or present concern related to religious liberty in arizona. i have not heard one example in arizona where a business owner's religious liberty has been violated. the bill is broadly worded and could result in unintended and negative consequences. after weighing all of the arguments, i have vetoed senate bill 1062 moments ago. >> all the arguments included so many businesses from around the country saying that they would just get out of arizona, had that law stayed in place. supporters of the measure say it

was wrongly depicted. >> when you have that many ceos saying hey, i have a big plant in your state or i might have a big plant in your state, and we don't like this law and we don't want to operate where there's this kind of law that talk matters. all right, breaking news, frightening moments for passengers on a delta connections flight from los angeles to oakland. look. as it landed, they were told to quickly get off the plane. >> we cannot breathe back here. go. >> go, go, go, because the smell of smoke in the cabin. here's what one of the passengers said about it. >> we cannot breathe back here. go. >> by the time we got to the gate, the cabin started filling up. it smelled like burnt rubber. and the pilots just immediately put the plane to a stop, you know, just really came to a jolting stop. and the flight attendants were telling everybody to get off, get off the plane, get off the plane. leave your stuff behind, get off the plane. >> all of the passengers and the crew were able to depart the plane without injuries,

thankfully. authorities are now trying to determine the source of the smell. millions across the country waking up to severe weather. if i had a dollar for every time i said that. but look, in california, really some much-needed rain, and we have not been able to say that in a long time. but is it too much of a good thing? the concern has now turned from drought to mud slides and flash floods after torrential rains. >> they're going to get a lot more in the coming days. >> a lot more. >> indra's going to tell us that in a second here. trees were no match for violent storms in and around the san francisco bay area. heavy rain, high winds bringing trees down. you can see the power lines sagging right there. such a dangerous job for cleanup crews. be very careful there. in the midwest, a deep freeze causing ice jams, ice jams, and providing some stunning views of the kankakee river. look at that, the kankakee river in illinois. impressive as it is, residents tell cnn that when the jam breaks, it could be trouble. >> how concerned are you what happens when it starts to thaw and it becomes water? >> that's when we've got the

problem. that's when you've got the story, because that's when the water's going to come up like a backed-up toilet. the ice is going to come up, and it's going to take out everything in its path. >> like a backed-up toilet, wow. >> beautiful picture, though. if gary tuchman were a committed reporter, he'd get into that river to see how cold it is. cold extends to the east coast, temperatures 30 to 40 degrees below normal in some places. you know, we're all feeling spring. we want it to come in here. >> what is it, 20 days until spring? >> not soon enough. >> 21 days. >> indra petersons is here. you've got a lot in the forecast, including what's happening in california. >> definitely, it will feel like a long ways away with everything currently going on. talking about actual temperatures this morning, where a lot of you are already below zero, but this is without the windchill. minneapolis 9 below, chicago 10. throw in the windchill, because that's where you really get the idea of how dangerous this actually is. we talked about temperatures that feel like almost 40 below. that's minnesota, detroit, feeling like 1 below, even out towards new york city, currently feels like 11. boston, just single digits at 4

degrees with that windchill. we go through the afternoon. you hope to warm up, but have unfortunately, temperatures really far from where they should be for even this time of year. chicago, about 30 below average. new york city now spreading into the northeast about 15 below average. so, this is a concern even as we go through the weekend. we're still going to be talking about these temperatures well below normal. big thing to note, by sunday night in through monday in the northeast, now a chance for a significant snowstorm. so, temperatures rebound. but unfortunately, that does also mean a snowstorm on the way. that's the story for the midwest and the east, but out west, an even bigger story. remember, these are drought conditions. they have not had drier conditions since we've been keeping records. now, one storm making its way through, but it is the second storm that could bring significant rainfall. the biggest storm they have seen in three years, guys. even the threat for tornadoes, hail, winds as high as 50, 60 miles per hour, heavy snow in the mountains. and of course, all this comes right as we go towards all through sunday. its timing friday in through saturday, but getting ready on sunday, still the concern will be out there. >> soggy red carpet. that doesn't measure against the considerations out there with the drought and the water they

need. >> thanks, enddra. we're following a breaking story in ukraine. tensions rising again. over 50 gunmen seized the parliament. a russian flag is now flying over the parliament building. that's a big deal. this comes as russian president vladimir putin ordered surprise military exercises for 150,000 russian troops, including those deployed near the border with ukraine. also today, ukrainian lawmakers are voting to install a new post-yanukovych government. that is the deposed leader just forced out of office and now very much on the run with a warrant out for his arrest. all right, the obama administration wants to hang on to phone records the national security agency collected on millions of americans. those records are supposed to be destroyed after five years, but the justice department says those records must be preserved. why? because of civil lawsuits over the surveillance program. the information might end up as evidence in court. the court is expected to approve the request, but it might want

the nsa to agree not to access the material for intelligence gathering. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff warning of a grimed future for afghanistan without u.s. help. army general martin dempsey says the absence of a long-term security pact would affect the morale of afghan soldiers, and the general's afraid some of them could side with the taliban. afghan leader hamid karzai has refused to sign the agreement. president obama wants the pentagon to speed up plans to pull all u.s. troops out of afghanistan. still, he is hoping that hamid karzai's replacement will sign the pact. the election in afghanistan is this spring. new developments concerning sex assault in the military. the army says it has removed nearly 600 soldiers from positions of trust as rape counselors, recruiters and drill sergeants because of infractions ranging from sex assaults to child abuse to drunk driving. meantime, a senate bill aimed at taking the prosecution of sexual offenders out of the hands of military commanders, that's expected to come up for a vote in the next few weeks. on wednesday, lawmakers heard

from victims who said they felt abandoned by their superiors and attempted suicide. a celebration today for the tea party. today is the fifth anniversary of that political movement. they're marking it with an event in the capitol. speakers include prominent conservatives, ted cruz there, senator rand paul from kentucky, congresswoman michele bachmann. tea party officials say they will reflect on how the movement was formed and they'll talk about what they believe to be their successes over the last few years. all right, big news today about the label on your food. those food nutrition labels are about to get a big-time makeover. the goal here is reflecting how people actually eat and drink. first lady michelle obama will announce them today as part of a week-long fourth anniversary celebration of her let's move campaign to combat obesity. now, these new labels are expected to show the calories much more prominently on the new labels. the amount of added sugar in a food product. you know how sometimes you get something, it says 2 1/2 servings per can? >> right. >> then you have to do the math

to figure out, wait a minute, how much am i consuming? maybe they're going to stream-line that. >> it's the holy grail really of food labelling, accurate serving sizes. you know, ice cream, it gives you this impossibly small serving size. >> and easier to understand. big news from two retailers today. from target, the first indications of just how last year's massive security breach hurt the company. the verdict? fewer people are shopping at target. target's fourth-quarter sales fell 2.5%. it's only the second quarterly drop in four years. profit sliced almost in half. and from jcpenney, a huge jump in its stock price this morning. those shares, jcp, up 12% in premarket trading. sales rose 2% last quarter, a big deal for jcpenney, which has been really struggling with a major turn-around here. the year before, jcpenney's quarterly sales plunged more than 30%. you know, people who are going to write the business school textbooks say that jcpenney fired its own customer for a while there.

now they're trying to get it back. >> we were ready to write their obituary. now they're back. >> we'll see if it can last. looking at the overall market, stock futures here, markets overseas are mixed. wall street waiting on testimony from fed chief janet yellen. the last time we heard from her, the dow jumped about 200 points. so, we'll see what she has to say today. new this morning, two suspected 2016, suspected -- suspected -- >> suspected. allegedly. >> expected, i guess we should say, presidential candidates playing to the people. hillary clinton and chris christie taking questions from the public as new poll numbers reveal what voters want. we're suspecting that paul steinhauser's going to have more on these suspects after the break. >> yeah, he's suspect. look at that smile. like i do, you want a way to help minimize blood sugar spikes. support heart health. and your immune system. now there's new glucerna advance with three benefits in one. [ male announcer ] new glucerna advance. from the brand doctors recommend most. try zyrtec-d® to powerfully clear your blocked nose

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welcome back to "early start," everyone. we continue to follow the developing news out of arizona. late last night, arizona governor jan brewer vetoed the controversial bill that would have allowed businesses and individuals to refuse service to gays and lesbians. take a listen to what she said.

>> religious liberty is a core american and arizona value. so is non discrimination. going forward, let's turn the ugliness of the debate over senate bill 1062 into a renewed search for greater respect and understanding among all arizonans and americans. >> so many people waiting for her to come out and make a statement about what she would do. >> she took her time. >> she took her time. very, very highly watched speech. cnn political editor paul steinhauser joins us now from washington. >> hey, paul. >> jan brewer in the spotlight, paul. >> reporter: no doubt about it, and it really puts the republican party, in a way, in the spotlight over this issue. you saw a lot of senior republicans, both of arizona's republican senators, john mccain, jeff flay coming out and urging brewer to veto the bill. same thing with their former presidential nominee, mitt romney saying the same thing. the gop touts itself as a party of pro business, right? a pro business party, and this bill, let's be honest, was not

good for business. but at the same time, social conservatives are a key part, a very crucial part of the gop base. and on this issue, they have a different opinion, and there is a struggle going on in the republican party over gay rights. take a look at this poll on the related issue of gay marriage. this is a brand new poll out last night on gay marriage, supporting legal same-sex marriage. look at that. democrats definitely on board. independents, a majority. a minority of republicans on board for this issue. it is a troubling issue for the republican party, guys. hillary clinton, by the way, did speak out on this issue last night at the university of miami. she topped off her speech talking about this, what the governor of arizona did in vetoing the bill, saying listen, this is a key part of what she wanted to talk about, giving equal rights to all americans and the government's role in doing that. john, christine? >> you know, paul, she looked, wow, she looked like she was campaigning last night. she looked like she could be on any kind -- that's just my

opinion. she was on stage, really commanded that stage. it looked like the crowd loved her. what else did she have to say, paul? >> reporter: are you talking about 2016, maybe, and whether she will make another run for the white house? >> yes. >> i think that's what you're getting at. >> no one's asked her that question, but -- >> never before. >> no one. >> maybe it's a long-shot to consider it, but i'm wondering if she said anything. >> reporter: well, she was asked about it by one of the students at the university of miami. here she is talking to students, maybe trying to tee up the vote for 2016. the student asked her about her bio on twitter which made news last year. listen. >> can you give us some insight to how the tbd in your file will play out? >> well, i'd really like to, but i have no characters left. i will certainly ponder that. >> reporter: and take a look at this brand new poll. we just talked about the cbs/"the new york times" poll. they asked democrats, should hillary clinton run in 2016? i think the overwhelming

answer -- you can see it on the left side -- is yes. what about vice president biden? democrats are divided. christine, john? >> you know, in that same poll, they asked republicans about governor chris christie, and more republicans than not said they don't want chris christie to run for president, paul. >> reporter: look at those numbers right there, and that is interesting. maybe that's a little bit to do with that bridge controversy, maybe not. look at the numbers for jeb bush there, the former florida governor. it is a different story. hey, we still have a long way to go. this race for the white house really doesn't get under way until after the midterms in november. christine? >> it's under way right now. i mean, at this point, it's on. >> reporter: all right. >> bring it. paul steinhauser, thanks for coming in. >> i have a quick question, do they really just ponder? do they really not know jeb bush and hillary clinton, or do you have to kind of know you're going to do it and lay it out? >> i think there's a middle ground. i think you say i'm doing everything that i need to do in case i decide to run. so, i've decided to do everything possible, but i can still pull the trigger one way or another down the line. i think that's where they all are right now.

>> keeping the rest of us guessing. let's get a look at what's coming up on "new day," kate bolduan. >> good morning, guys. we'll be looking closely at the new nutrition labels. this is fascinating and important for everybody. the nutrition labels will be debuting today. they're supposed to make it easier to figure out honestly what's healthy for your family, or at least what you're eating in each of these serving sizes. but of course, the question is, whenever anyone tries to help and correct us, are they just going to make it more confusing with these new labels? dr. sanjay gupta will be here to explain what it all means and what you should take from it. but also this. it was a very inspiring moment. no one can forget it, probably the most memorable moment of the state of the union. army sergeant cody rumsberg singled out by the president for battling back after a bomb attack in kandahar, afghanistan, left him seriously injured. he's blind in one eye, still struggling with movements on his left side. he was in a coma for weeks. he's fighting back, and he just celebrated his 31st birthday. and we got a chance to check in

with him, see how he's doing. it's a remarkable story, and we're going to bring that to you on "new day." >> cannot wait to see that. a special, special person. >> thanks, guys. a new warning that a lot of people will want to take notice of, especially men, especially older men wanting to be fathers. the health risk that researchers say your children could be facing. i read every word of this story. that's coming up next. [ dr. ronit ] there's a lot of foods and drinks that have acids in them. raspberries, strawberries, working at your enamel, once it's gone, you can't get it back. i would recommend using pronamel. pronamel will help to reharden the enamel, i use that every day, twice a day, and i know that i am protected. [ female announcer ] we eased your back pain, you turned up the fun. tylenol® provides strong pain relief while being gentle on your stomach. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®. ♪ aflac, aflac, aflac!

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a troubling, new finding suggests that chronic brain trauma more commonly found in violent sports like football and boxing also extends to the soccer field. researchers posthumously diagnosing the degenerative disease in 29-year-old patrick range, the first named soccer player found to have this condition. according to his parents, grange sustained a few concussions, but doctors say the damage to his

brain seems to have come from repeatedly heading the ball. that was a skill he was noted for. >> i played soccer my whole life, my kids play. you do these drills where you head the ball again and again and again into the goal, and you do wonder the impact it's having. there is another big medical study that has a lot of people talking. men, pay close attention, particularly older men. pay closer attention to your biological clocks. researchers studied 2.6 million swedish children and found olders fathers have a much greater risk of having kids with learning disabilities and mental health problems. the study concludes that the older the father, the larger the risk of conditions like adhd, autism and bipolar disorder in their children. the study suggests one possibility might be that as men age, the sperm mutates with these genetic issues. >> wow, certainly that's important research. >> very important. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] right when you feel a cold sore, abreva can heal a cold sore

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all right, welcome back to "early start." it's "money time" this morning. the s&p 500's record high is slipping away. stock futures are down this morning and european markets

struggling a bit, too. but the s&p is three points away from all-time closing highs, so don't cry yet. it may get a boost from janet yellen. the fed chief speaks later this morning. this is how investors responded two weeks ago. it popped because she plans to keep the fed's easy money policies in place, at least for now. so, stay tuned. tesla planning to build a giant, $5 billion lithium battery factory and several states want in on the action. >> yeah, they do. >> arizona, hey, arizona. nevada, new mexico and texas are the finalists for what tesla is calling a giga factory. other automakers make lithium ion batteries for electric cars, but tesla says the plant will be much bigger. by 2020, tesla plans to have this one factory produce more batteries annually than were produced worldwide last year. they expect the factory to lead to 6,500 new jobs. tesla shares at a record high. >> that's some big business. >> a big giga factory.

>> a giga factory, all right. thank you for watching the giga news this morning. "new day" starts right now. i have vetoed senate bill 1062. >> arizona governor rejects the controversial so-calledrily jous rights bill, but now other states may try to pass their own version. we're live with the latest. >> breaking news, violence in ukraine as armed suppose important terse of rush seize the parliament there. major makeover for the new transition labels we all rely on. what you need to know and will serving sizes actually match up with ouch how much we eat? your "new day" starts right now.

good morning. welcome to "new day." it's thursday, february 27th, 6:00 in the east. and arizona's so-called religious rights bill is dead for now, but the debate is heating up. governor jan brewer finally vetoed a measure that would have allowed business owners to refuse to serve gays and others. brewer cited several reasons in doing this. the lack of need under the law in arizona and her fear of unintended consequences. let's get more live in phoenix. >> reporter: good morning. the governor's office said it received more than 40,000 e-mails and phone calls over the last couple of days that had to do with this bill that would have opened the door to discrimination. itau